Chapter 194


    Great-father


    Barnacle-eyes


    Chance of Mutiny: 0%


    The sun made the calm sea shine. All the other ships by the pier pitched with every small wave that rode up to Lavenfauvish. Rigging and seagulls clanged. The murmur of goblins and humans meant that the rest of the world was back to their daily doings. What did I do wrong?


    Hawkin leaned on the taffrail beside me, just like I did.


    “I did everything right,” he said. “It should’ve worked.”


    “I stayed there for a really long time,” I uttered.


    “Barnacle-eyes, I’m so sorry. Up until now, it’s worked for everyone; for people, and even for animals, so I don’t see why…”


    I sighed into the wood of the taffrail, and I could smell its salty oaky tang. As I thought, Hawkin’s voice became muffled because my thoughts were that much louder.


    What did I do wrong? Again I wiped quiet tears from my eyes. My cheeks felt so raw, and my eyes stung, and some of my eyelashes had come out from all the wiping. The calm sea was blurry, and I couldn’t even care to look at it. It was just something to look away from the world at.


    What did I do wrong? My own thoughts became muffled as the pain in my chest became that much louder. When I was finally coming out of the deep hole of missing Slime-tooth, it was only because I was being poked in the ribs by a goblin.


    “Admiral?” said Pinky-chew.


    Hawkin squatted, and he seemed worried. “Barnacle-eyes?”


    “Uh…what?” I said.


    “I finished the hiring. And you usually promote some goblins right about now.”


    I turned to Hawkin. “It’s okay, Hawkin. We tried. It’s my fault anyways. Slime-tooth probably didn’t want—”


    “Evon told me you did everything right,” he said. “I’ll check on you soon, okay? Anytime you want to see me, just ask Thrush. We can meet at Hermit Tavern.”


    I nodded as much as I could, and I followed Pinky-chew across deck as fast as I could.


    “I’m sorry, Barnacle-eyes,” she said over her shoulder.


    “Me too. But goblins need promotions, so I gotta promote.”


    “How many goblins?”


    “Just one,” I said. “Lost most of my Fable Stones when my ships got commandeered. Should’ve kept them in my inventory.”


    “Who’s it gonna be?”


    With a heavy arm and a limp finger, I pointed. “That one.”


    Old Wrinkle-twinkle was the oldest goblin on my crew, and he was swabbing the deck like he was the youngest. His swabbing was really good, and he even got the salt out between the planks.


    “Good morning, Admiral!” said Old Wrinkle-twinkle.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    “It’s promotion time,” I said with as much care as I could muster. “I’ll be building another jolly boat today. It needs a Captain, and I choose you.”


    I offered up the Fable Stone from my inventory. It was lumpy and brightly turquoise.


    “By the goblin gods!” said Old Wrinkle-twinkle. “Never thought I’d see the day! But why me? Why me out of all the other goblins?”


    “I think you’ll make a terrific Captain,” I said and I hoped my smile was big enough to show that I cared.


    He grabbed the Fable Stone like it was a super crumble wedge of cheese he had to be careful with so that he didn’t lose any morsels. His eyes rolled to the back of his tilted head.


    My chest rose with a big inhale, and it deflated with all the air in the world. That’s what my breathing felt like lately. What did I do wrong?


    With my gaze on my boots, I trudged back to the taffrail so I could stare at the sea again. How could I give my fleet all the attention it needed when my heart suddenly didn’t seem to care? Then there was my mind which was too busy.


    “Oh!” said Old Wrinkle-twinkle. “Oh, wait! Admiral, please wait!”


    I turned. He made enough of a commotion that goblins got curious. They bounced over and circled Old Wrinkle-twinkle. I sauntered over to them.


    “I’m on the Great-father quest path!” he said. “My quest path provides buffs for whichever fleet I’m on, just like Remember-not’s quest path.”


    “What sort of buffs, please thank you?” said Gabby.


    “The first branch helps to lower the fleet’s Chance of Mutiny stat!”


    “That’ll sure help!” said Pinky-chew.


    “Great-father,” I said with as much excitement as I could show. “Congratulations. Well, I better get—”


    “Wait! Admiral, that’s not the best part! I got to assign the most awesome goblin god of all time to my quest path!”


    “Surf-gurgler?” said Gabby.


    “Peg-tooth?” said Sweet-thumps.


    “Frog-marcher?” said Stuck-dimple


    “Chum-bits?” said Thick-cheek


    “Ice-licker?” said Itch-elbow.


    “Bite-tongue?” said Crude-manner


    I pictured them all, though I had only ever seen Peg-tooth. Would Surf-gurgler have hair like seaweed? Probably. She probably foamed at the mouth. Frog-marcher would probably look like a frog with big eyes that sort of popped out of his face. Chum-bits sounded like a big round goblin with a charming smile. Ice-licker sounded like he was stuck in the frozen waters of the far north. And Bite-tongue seemed like he had huge teeth that snapped all on their own! Then I pictured a wonderful old mangled goblin with warm-hearted eyes and a gentle like-a-father smile.


    The sudden hush of the goblin brought me out of my imaginings.


    “Admiral,” said Gabby. “Did you hear what he just said?”


    “Slime-tooth!’ said Old Wrinkle-twinkle. “I assigned Slime-tooth to my quest path!”


    My chest froze. I couldn’t breathe out-ways or in-ways. My eyes popped wide.


    “But, he’s dead,” said Pinky-chew. “Like, dead and burnt-dead-again-just-in-case kinda dead.”


    “He’s a god now!” said Old Wrinkle-twinkle. “An official goblin god!”


    Goblins frenzied. For a moment they seemed like imps that had just hunted down enough food to last a lifetime. They hollered their throats raw with triumph.


    In the deafening volume, I said, “One of us? One of us actually became a god?”


    Old Wrinkle-twinkle came right up to my nose so that we could hear each other. He steadied me by grasping both of my shoulders. “Slime-tooth said that he misses you. He couldn’t answer your calling because it doesn’t work on gods. He asked how you were doing, and I said terrible, and he was very sad about that, but he said he’s proud of you, and he asked for me to take good care of you.”


    Clearer tears than what I’d been crying lately dripped down my face. My breath was returning, but I couldn’t utter.


    “He said that you’re his like-a-daughter.”


    At last I said, “I-I am! I am!”


    “And he says he loves you.”


    “So he’s not mad at me?”


    Old Wrinkle-twinkle drew us together, and he hugged me tight. “This is a Great-father hug, directly from Slime-tooth.”


    It was a hug that made me feel like I’d never really been hugged before. Even the sound of the word suddenly made sense. Hug. Hug-hug. I couldn’t believe that a hug was capable of wiping everything clean. It was better than a shield, or a yurt, or a cabin, or even a mansion. It was like a home. Of course the Great-father quest path came from Slime-tooth! I was instantly sure that no other goblin quest path was as amazing as Great-father. Sorry, Peg-tooth.


    Now Slime-tooth was with Peg-tooth and all the other constellations! He did it! Oh, Slime-tooth. I felt triple incredibly proud of him. I couldn’t believe that I got to grow up. What an honor it was to be his friend. I knew he was a special goblin!


    I gasped. Hawkin was right! The sneaky star was a Slime-tooth thought, and he was thinking of me!


    How did Hawkin know? How did a human know such ins and outs of goblins? For sure, Hawkin was a true goblin friend. Even if his magic beer didn’t work sometimes, Hawkin himself was magic.